Replacement
by outerelf
Summary: Their is some concern over Red Alert being Head of Security. So he gets replaced. Of course, the Ark doesn't like this all, and are currently planning to run the newbie through some serious steps. Finally complete!
1. Chapter 1

This was something that wouldn't leave me, so I typed it out

This was something that wouldn't leave me, so I typed it out.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs

"And that is why sir, that Red Alert shouldn't be the security director." The mech finished, laying the report infront of him.

Prime stared at the mech, as Ratchet's hands clenched visibly "So, you are suggesting that I am changing the data in order to keep Red Alert on as a member of the crew?" Prime asked in a rather soft, dangerous voice.

The mech quickly shook his head. "Of course not sir. What I am merely saying is that Red Alert is not fit to be security director upon our ship. It is no longer about you may feel, but many autobots are worried that you are not safely protected-" Prime snorted softly at that, remembering how three vorns back Red Alert had risked his life to protect the Arc and it's occupants "-and to give them better morale we wish to put someone better in Red Alert's place."

"We have already designed a plan sir, knowing that you might refuse this outright. How about you remove Red Alert for several vorns, and allow another mech to take his place. If he is unable to handle it, then it will be clear that Red Alert is the only one who can properly guard the Arc."

Prime thought it out, weighing the army against his own personal interests. He glanced over at Red Alert, who had sat quietly throughout the entire meeting, not raising a single protest in his own defense. Red Alert met Primes optics, and nodded, shrugging. He seemed unconcerned, but Prime could tell that it was truly eating away at him. Prime rumbled, "Very well. We will keep this one new mech for a third of a vorn. If he is unable to cope, then we will take Red Alert back. If he is, then…" Prime shrugged.

"Excellent. But sir, in order to make this a true test, we must ask that you do not tell anyone in your crew." The mech said smoothly.

Red Alert looked up at this, a slight frown on his face. Prime nodded, and said, "Very well, everyone is dismissed. Send this newbie to the Arc by 0800 tomorrow. If he's not their, well, I suppose our new security director is going to find himself stuck planet side."

Red Alert interrupted. "And what is going to happen to me?" His voice was mild, masking the deep pain he felt at being replaced.

The two mechs who had lain out the plan looked at each other, grimacing slightly. "Red Alert, you are to go to the planet Latnem where your glitch will be studied. After all, glitches are rare occurrences, especially paranoia ones."

Red Alert nodded, his optics once again returning to the desk in front of him. Ratchet was scowling at the two, and Prime could see the slight displeasure on Prowl's usually blank face. _This was not a good idea._ Prime thought, but he said nothing.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The entire crew yawned loudly as they slowly got into ranks, jostling each other strait. Inferno looked around eagerly for Red Alert, and frowned as he realized that he couldn't see him. Prime stepped up to the front, followed by an unfamiliar mech. Silence fell as they stared at their leader in confusion. Who was this new mech?

Inferno whispered to Sideswipe who was standing right next to him, "Sides, do you see Red Alert anywhere?"

The giant twin looked around, optics scanning the crowd easily. "No, I don't."

"Huh, and he wasn't in the control room earlier." Inferno muttered, optics worried. "Where is he?"

Prime cleared his throat, commanding for attention. The Ark's crew slowly fell silent, staring at him. When total silence fell, Prime said without preamble. "Red Alert is being replaced with a new mech. His name is Waveshaft."

The Ark's crew stared at Prime, unable to believe their auditory receptors. Red Alert, quit? After all he had done? It just didn't seem possible. A mutter ran through the crowd, and optics fixed on the mech that was to replace Red Alert, evaluating.

O0o0o0o0o0o

Waveshaft looked out among the crew, evaluating them. Surely they couldn't be that hard to handle if Red Alert managed it. His optics spotted a furious looking mech, a fire truck. He seemed to be madder, and more stunned then the rest.

Red and yellow Lamborghinis looked him directly in the optics, measuring and weighing what they could see. Waveshaft was supremely confident that he could handle this. Surely it would be easy enough.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0

Red Alert watched them blast off, feeling very much alone and sad. His paranoia glitch was acting up, screaming that he go after the Ark, make sure that it would stay safe, but Red Alert ignored it, turning slowly to face the mechs behind him. They nodded, and a few breems after the Arc left, another, smaller ship blasted off in the opposite direction.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Waveshaft paced through the hallways, being introduced to each of the Arc's crew members by Prowl. When he got introduced to Inferno, Inferno simply glared, optics smouldering with a burning rage.

Prowl murmured to Inferno, "Be polite." It sounded ridiculously like a mother chiding her sparklings or younglings into submission that Waveshaft nearly smiled. Nearly.

Prowl glanced up the hallway as he asked, "Is Wheeljack in his room?"

Inferno shook his head. "Nope, for once he went to the blast room. He was saying something about developing new guns, but I don't think that what was what he had in his mind, because he took Ratchet with him."

"Ah. Anyone else?"

"Bumblebee is off trying to hack his way into a virus. Apparently Red Alert had given him the brand new one he had just developed. I think he also pulled Mirage into it, or maybe it was Jazz?"

Prowl shook his head. "No, Jazz and the twins are off doing their rounds."

Inferno shrugged carelessly, and walked off, roughly brushing past Waveshaft. Prowl and Waveshaft watched him, go before Waveshaft asked, "Is there a reason he doesn't like me?"

"He and Red alert are sparkmates. Over there is the control room. Good luck."

Prowl left Waveshaft alone with those cryptic words.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Oh myyyyy, Red Alert left! Well, It will all work out in the end, right? And poor Waveshaft. He has no idea what he's just gotten into.


	2. Chapter 2

Oh, my… Let's see where this is going, shall we

Oh, my… Let's see where this is going, shall we?

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Waveshaft sat down in the seat. Only to jump right back up again, optics wide. He placed a single hand to his shocked skid plate, and turned to look at the seat. A stifled giggle filled the room, as the two other bots in the room tried to keep from laughing out loud. "Did either of you know who did this?"

"No, but it was meant for Red. So I'm betting that the twins did it." Replied one of them cheerfully, mirth dancing in his optics. "You know, you really should develop a paranoid streak, because that's the only way you're going to keep from being pranked."

Waveshaft blinked at that. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, the twins prank everyone at some point or another. Fight too." The bot explained, the slight smile plastered to his face. "Anyways, we're off. You should be just fine on your own."

Waveshaft had no chance to protest before the two had already left. Waveshaft sighed and turned to the large amount of monitors before him, always scanning the inside and outside of the Arc. He typed in what Red Alert said was the master code, and watched as a rooster for the monitor duty was. He glanced down it, searching for the day that it was today. When he found it, his jaw dropped.

It was completely blank. Underneath was typed a small note that said, "You'll have to create your own rooster. Just a hint, don't stick First Aid or Wheeljack in here, for both of them are more likely to be called away in the event of an attack. Oh, and don't put Hoist and Cliffjumper in the same team. That's just asking for trouble."

Waveshaft sat down, and began redrawing the entire schedule, relying mostly off of the old one.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Red Alert looked down at the planet he would be staying on, and gulped. Even from space, he could see the large detainment faculties, and well guarded hospitals. His paranoia glitch began screaming, nearly hurling obscenities at him. Red Alert groaned softly, trying to work through it. Desperately he scrambled for something to catch a hold, to keep his mind clear, and the sound of Inferno's laughed rose up in his memory banks.

It didn't help. Instead, the glitch got worse, demanding to go back to where Inferno was. To make sure that his spark mate was safe, to make sure that the entire Arc was safe.

Red Alert's head fell foreword, pressing against the cold glass. _I'm never, __**ever**__ agreeing to one of these plans ever again_.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Waveshaft sat up strait as an alarm went off on the computer. He had finished drawing up the new chart, sent it off, and had started on the daily paperwork, when the loud beeping noise alerted him to a problem. He looked, and found camera 1-3328, had offlined. He frowned, and scrambled for the notes he had been left. Red Alert had written in a nice little note, _If one of the cameras is damaged, call Wheeljack. If Wheeljack has just been in an explosion, you're on your own. A manual on fixing cameras is underneath the desk._

Waveshaft looked blankly at the note, then scrambled for the list of numbers that would page any bot on board. He found the list, and was scanning for Wheeljack's number when BOOM! Waveshaft flinched and turned quickly, his optics scanning for the camera that would show him smoke.

Then, outside of a room, smoke poured through the open door. Waveshaft brought up the sound, and listened in to the coughing. "Aw, it exploded. Again. Maybe I should move to the blast room before Red Alert comes to chew me out. Oh wait, Red Alert isn't here anymore. Ah, well, off to Ratchet once more."

A datsun moved past the door at that moment. "Wheeljack, do I need to call for Ratchet again?"

"Nah, I'm fine! I only blew off my arm. I can walk to Ratchet all on my own."

"Alright. But you better move to the blast room. Prowl heard the explosion, and has been planning your punishment."

Waveshaft shook his head in disbelief as Wheeljack staggered out, covered in smoke. He looked at the pager, and typed in the message. Wheeljack caught the message, and looked at the camera. "Yeah, yeah, I'll do it as soon as I get fixed." He said happily, waving his blown off arm at the camera.

Waveshaft stared at it, feeling slightly queasy. He was never good at seeing dismembered limbs. That's why he choose to be a security mech.

O0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert looked around him, hand clenching his small bag of personal items tightly. It reminded him of the first time he had ever gone to school, which made him wince. That was when his creators had first found out about the glitch, when Red Alert had refused to go inside, claiming that everyone their would try to take him apart and sell him for spare parts.

Two mechs in completely white paint walked up to him, both smiling. Red Alert stared at them, wondering for a few nanoclicks just how fast they could run, and how long it would take blast off from this planet. One mech extend his hand, saying softly, "I'm Arcwelder. How do you do?"

Red Alert said nothing, and didn't shake his hand back, staring at him with slightly shifty optics. Arcwelder didn't seem at all put out however, as he continued, "Welcome to the planet Lantem. I'll be your main psychiatrist for your stay. We'll be sharing a room for now, since all of the rooms are full."

_Yeah, right. Like all 10987 rooms could suddenly be full the second I get here. I may be paranoid, but I'm not __**stupid**__._ Red Alert said nothing out loud, and he simply nodded, feeling much to weary to argue right now. Arcwelder motioned for him to follow as he strode briskly out of the large landing area they were in.

"You might have some trouble adjusting of course, but please be reassured that I will always be here to listen to your concerns—" _I'd much rather have Inferno. Or maybe even Prowl if Inferno is gone._ "—And I'm sure you'll make friends in no time-" _I hope the twins haven't destroyed the Ark yet_ "-but if that still doesn't do it, there are several psychiatrists who would be more then happy to fill in my place-" _Wheeljack must of blown up half the Ark by now._ "-and eventually, I hope that you'll be able to leave here with your glitch completely fixed-" _I wonder if Ratchet has tried welding the twins to the ceiling yet? He already had the ladders set up and everything._

Arcwelder turned to face his patient, and noticed that while Red Alert wasn't paying attention to him, his optics were always constantly scanning the grounds, searching for any threat that may appear. Arcwelder sighed, guessing that his patient was going to be one of the more difficult ones. However, he could always use him to test out the new machine… "Red Alert, how are you feeling right now?"

Optics snapped back to Arcwelder as Red Alert tensed, suddenly as high-strung as a cat about to pounce on its intended prey. "I'm feeling just fine." He said softly, his optics evaluating Arcwelder. Arcwelder suddenly realized that this was the first bot he had ever had that had actually been in combat service.

"That's good to hear." He said, smiling to cover his sudden fear. What if Red Alert glitched and attacked? He probably wouldn't survive. Red Alert seemed to sense the fear, for he coiled up even tighter on himself, optics burning with something that Arcwelder couldn't place. "Will you be willing to do a quick experiment? If not, I understand. It's been a long tiring day—"

"I'm not doing any experiments." Red Alert said coldly, breaking the doctor off mid-monologue. The doctor nodded, automatically accepting this. It would take some time to gain his trust, but they had all the time in the world, after all, Waveshaft should more then able to handle the Arc.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsS

Hmm. Both sides have just gotten a taste of what's about to come. Waveshaft will have to come out from his nice, safe room sometime, right?


	3. Chapter 3

Waveshaft groaned as yet another camera off-lined

Yehaa, spread the word, someone actually likes it! Of course, Waveshaft is going to be in for some serious hurting, but so… Whatever shall I do with Red, hmmmm?

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Waveshaft groaned as yet another camera off-lined. He looked at the thick, heavy manual Red Alert had given him for fixing cameras, glad that he had actually taken the time to read it after the explosion in Wheeljack's lab. His optics went to where the monitors showed Ratchet thoroughly beating Ironhide up, and he shook his head.

He had been scared out of his CPU when the sounds of shooting echoed through the hallways. For a wild moment he had through the Decepticon's were attacking, but no, Ironhide had just gotten bored and decided to play 'shoot-the-annoying-mechs-in-my-way'. Said mechs happened to be the minibots of the crew, and they had been more then willing to fight back. Except for Bumblebee, but Ironhide hadn't been aiming at him anyways.

There was another alarm from the monitors. Waveshaft nearly screamed in frustration when he saw that yet another camera had off-lined. He grabbed the repair kit from under a nearby table, and stormed towards the off-lined cameras.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sunstreaker looked at his brother in disbelief. "You did what?"

"I switched the repair kit with rubber tools, that when squeezed will say, 'You've been tricked' in Megatron's voice." Sideswipe explained, already unable to contain his laughter.

Sunstreaker shook his head at his twin. "You tried that with Red Alert once already, didn't you?"

"Yep. He threw us in the brig for nearly a week after that. But, I think that this new bot should get the same treatment as Red Alert. After all, remember, we're not supposed to treat the newbie any different." Sideswipe said happily, peeking around the corner.

Sunstreaker grumbled to himself as he leaned against the wall. "Oh, and I suppose that you have a brilliant way of getting out of the punishment that Prowl will plan for you also?"

"Well, seeming how I had to destroy two cameras instead of only having to look cross-eyed at one, I suppose he'll thank me for keeping our new security director on his toes."

"Sideswipe-" His brother began, but Sideswipe quickly put a single finger up, signaling for silence.

They both listened closely, Sideswipe actually peeking around the corner. They heard Waveshaft grumbling softly, and the sound of the toolkit being opened. Then, "YOU'VE BEEN TRICKED!" Boomed Megatron's voice, as the tool exploded.

"You never told me that the tools exploded." Sunstreaker accused softly.

"They weren't supposed to." Sideswipe whispered back. "Oh boy, looks like the newbie off-lined from shock. Should we call Ratchet?"

"Are you kidding? He'll weld us to the ceiling! Didn't you see the ladders? He's just waiting for us!" Sunstreaker hissed back.

Bumblebee rounded the corner at that moment. "Hey guys, Wheeljack just sent me to tell you two that the stuff he gave you was one time use only. Any other times and it will explode. Speaking of which, I haven't seen Wheeljack stagger past to Ratchet's any time soon. Maybe I should go find him? I heard an explosion."

"Well, umm…." Sideswipe said, realizing that he had just about dug his own grave.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert glanced around the large, spacious room. It was big. Too big. If any attacked him, it would be hard to defend—Red Alert sighed as he once again attempted to get his glitch to calm down. It was getting harder and harder the more he looked around.

Whoever had designed this place had been good. Cameras scanned constantly, including some of the latest in technology that wasn't fooled by holo-projectors. The building was set up so that anyone less then familiar with the entire layout would easily get lost, and from the looks of it, the mechs who were here did not get to wander at will. They were always accompanied by the white, shinning psychiatrists.

Red Alert circled the room, spotting a single, hidden camera. He dumped his bag in front of it, cutting off the view. He continued searching, his own knowledge of cameras coming into play as he saw another hidden camera. Carefully he didn't look at it, as he casually made his way over to it, head still looking around. He placed his back to the camera, cutting off the sight.

Arcwelder watched, frowning slightly. "Is something the matter? You are supposed to put your things over on this rack over here—"

"No." Arcwelder winced at the flat tone. Then quickly gathered himself together.

"Very well then. If you're hungry, we can go to the cafeteria and get some energon. They just got new high-grade, and theirs been a talk of having a party for our 101th vornly opening."

"What?"

Arcwelder sighed. At least Red Alert could be interested in something. "Once a vorn we celebrate our opening. In about twelve orns, it'll be the time of vorns once again."

Red Alert nodded. Arcwelder asked hopefully, "Do you wish to go?"

"I don't drink. And I hate parties." Came back the firm reply. _It's not like they could even get close to the Ark's parties anyways. Nobody knows just how odd Prime gets when he's drunk._ It floated through his CPU before he could block it off.

Arcwelder stared in dismay at his patient. The party was famous for it's high-grade energon, and the bands that played. "Are you sure? It has some good music, and a group of performers will come."

_If it has high-grade, then it'll just dissolve into a drinking contest._ Red Alert thought, drawing on his long experience. It was the same everywhere.

"Ah. Very well then." Arcwelder couldn't quiet hide his disappointment, but Red Alert was a master at ignoring that which he didn't want to notice. He had had plenty of practice when Inferno was still off chasing after love, even though Red Alert was practically screaming, _I'm here, and I love you!_ The only good thing Disingenu had done was finally giving him the courage to confess to Inferno.

Arcwelder peered closely at Red Alert, who returned his gaze warily. "I know, why don't we talk about your creators, or your family."

"My creators dropped me off at a sparkling home while I was still young because of my glitch, so I don't know whether or not I have any family." Red Alert replied, his gaze off in the distance. _Inferno, I should be telling you this. Not some stupid mech who couldn't care less._

0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0

Inferno flopped onto his recharge bunk, and stared up at the ceiling. Everyone onboard had given him a wide berth, and Inferno was thankful for that. It just didn't seem right that Red Alert would suddenly quit, without a word to him.

Inferno's hand closed on an energon cube that lay empty beside him and he hurled it at the wall. The cube shattered, making the passing Bluestreak call out worriedly, "Inferno, are you alright?"

"I'm just fine." Inferno snarled back, and was up and pacing. On the table lay the newest movie in the 'Datsun' series. Red alert had mentioned wanting to watch it so Inferno had bribed the twins into getting it for him. Now it looked like it would be wasted.

His CPU seethed in frustration as he thought about the smirking mech that had taken Red alert's place. Then, suddenly he smiled. _Jazz was talking about planning a party. Let's see how this newest mech can handle his energon._

SsSsSsSsSsSs

Party, let's have a party!


	4. Chapter 4

Waveshaft onlined slowly, and when he did, he wondered if he was hallucinating

Waveshaft onlined slowly, and when he did, he wondered if he was hallucinating.

It looked as if someone had taken two bots and welded them to the wall, in fact, there was still a ladder beneath them. Dazed, Waveshaft looked around at the nearly empty medbay. Ratchet hovered nearby, and Waveshaft listened in disbelief at what he was saying. "Oh yes, if Ironhide ever, ever does this again I'll remodel him into a femme. That includes Wheeljack. Imagine, actually doing something the twins asked. Well, they should be waking up any moment now…"

Sunstreaker onlined at that moment. "RATCHET! GET ME DOWN NOW!"

"No. You two stupid bots can stay up there until you fall off." Ratchet said, in not such nice terms.

"But it was all Sideswipes idea!"

"Yeah, yeah. I thought I told you lot to go easy on the newbie."

"We are." Sideswipe interrupted, apparently deciding that he couldn't make Ratchet any angrier. "We were planning on putting a harmless smoke bomb under his chair."

"You were. I was not." Sunstreaker snarled back. Sideswipes optics narrowed, and before Waveshafts disbelieving optics, the two began to fight, still welded to the ceiling.

Ratchet noticed that Waveshaft was online, and grunted, "Finally. I was beginning to think you'd never online. Better go and fix those cameras of yours. Bumblebee and Bluestreak have taken over for now."

Waveshaft nearly spluttered, "But that's not how a doctor is supposed to act! You're supposed to give me another checkup!" when he realized that Ratchet had just welded two large, and rather dangerous mechs to the ceiling. Silently he got off the bunk, and staggered out the door.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert knew he was in trouble from the second he walked into the cafeteria. A large group of white mechs was gathered together, and as soon as the two entered, they broke up, quickly dispersing except for one. This one waved Arcwelder over. Red Alert stayed at where he was. While he may be out side of auditory range for regular bots, his supersensitive hearing could hear whatever the two might say just fine.

"Take him to room number 590, as soon as he's full. Then, start the therapy. We found some interesting facts in his medical record that we might want to test. Make sure that he drinks the highest grade we have."

Red Alert tried to not let his shock show. If they had read his medical report then they would know that high-grade would overload his systems, making his glitch take over his CPU… His glitch snarled, _They're out to get me. They just want to use me for their own purposes._ His CPU heartily agreed.

However, Arcwelder was already agreeing. Red Alert wondered how he was going to get out of drinking the high-grade when he hit upon a plan. It was desperate at best, but it would have to work. "Arcwelder, I am not hungry at all. May we simply return to the room as soon as you are finished eating?"

"Why, Red Alert, surely you must be hungry!"

Red Alert shook his head. It was not a complete lie. He wasn't very hungry after hearing what he had just heard. Arcwelder sighed, wondering how he was supposed to get Red Alert to drink the high-grade, when he hit upon a plan. "Very well then. You don't have to have it. But I do insist that you share a cup of high-grade with me. It's traditional-"

"No." Arcwelder sighed. One plan down and out.

The entire meal was spent in silence.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Inferno wandered through the hallways, feeling depressed. Jazz had told him that the party, unfortunately, wouldn't be up and going for another few days. He had finally escaped his room, just too many memories, and now he was forced to simply wander, seeming how many of the other bots were recharging. Finally he stopped in front of the Rec room. He stared at the doors for a few seconds, and then silently entered.

Inside it was completely empty for once. Inferno dropped down onto the couch, and began flicking through the news. Prime entered a few moments later. "Inferno, what are you doing here? Usually you're recharging by now—"

"With Red Alert." Inferno snarled, turning to glare at his commander. Prime winced, and sighed.

"It wasn't my idea to do so. I didn't really want to." Prime said softly, looking Inferno in the optics. "I wouldn't have done that. Especially like this. If I were to reassign Red alert, I would have at least allowed you the option of going with him."

Inferno yelled at Prime, suddenly too exhausted to care. "Oh really? Then what am I supposed to do now? Red's gone, I don't know where, his glitch can be reacting at any moment, and I can't help him! He always told me that he felt better around me, as if I soothed his glitch somehow!"

Inferno stood up, unaware that he was crying. "At least you get constant messages from Elita-" That was a low blow, and Inferno knew it.

Primes face grew cold as he said that, and his massive hands clenched, "I didn't have a choice!" his voice was pleading, begging for understanding that Inferno didn't want to give.

Inferno ignored the pleading optics, and roughly brushed by. Suddenly, a room all to himself didn't seem like a bad idea at all.


	5. Chapter 5

Red Alert entered into the room

Well, someone asked me why I couldn't leave Red alone, and just let him be happy. Another asked why I'm obsessed with Red Alert. To tell you the truth, I have no idea. It's just fun.

SsSsSsSsSs

Red Alert entered into the room. It was empty, except for a long, recharge berth like thing, that sat in the middle of the room. A screen was across from it, where a line of chairs was nicely set up. Arcwelder explained, "This is brand new. You simply lie down in the bunk and think of a response. It'll be shown on the screen."

Red Alert balked. "Absolutely not, I will get on no such thing."

"You must." Arcwelder said simply, optics showing a plain sympathy for Red Alert. "If you don't, you'll be drugged and shoved on. So you have a choice. Willingly, or unwillingly."

Red Alert glared, but slowly got into the bunk. It hummed to life around him, and Arcwelder said softly, "Ok, first off. Family."

An image flashed into Red's CPU. _Abandoned, lost, why were his creators leaving him? Hadn't he been a good sparkling? Why were these scary looking mechs all around him? Looking around, tiny building, lots of others his age, something about this being a place for those not wanted…_ Red Alert determinedly blotted it out, casting for a happier memory. It rose up almost instantly, making Red Alert smile as he remembered…

_Sun was shining, and everyone was out playing. Even Red Alert. Mud flew in balls as the Arks crew tussled about, dragging Prime and Prowl into their games. Red Alert and Mirage managed to stay aloof for a few moments before, SPLAT! Red Alert scowled at the grinning Inferno, warning, 'You asked for it!' then he too dove into the frenzied play fight, feeling more alive then in a very, very long time-_

Arcwelder made a slight noise as he looked at the happily playing crew. "I see. Very well then, next word. Trust."

_Inferno was saying, 'offline your optics for a few breems Red' Red Alert did so… and when he was allowed to online them, they were in Inferno's room, a romantic dinner was set out. 'If we have to date on the Ark, might as well make it a nice one.' Inferno joked, as he guided Red Alert to a chair. 'Quite a few bots looked at us odd as we passed by though. It's like you don't have any trust at all'_

'_I do trust you, especially when it comes to this.' Red Alert said softly, and grinned at Inferno's confusion._

Arcwelder gulped as he stared at the screen. It was working, but Arcwelder suddenly wished that it wasn't, because he was going to truly regret the next word. "Death."

_Thousands of mechs lay scattered, piling up in the buildings that they had so valiantly tried to defend. Sparklings and younglings lay torn apart in pieces, having received the cruel attention of Decepticons… Femmes lay out in the streets, many of the obviously raped, tortured, and made to last before the Decepticons had finally ended their misery…_

Arcwelder stared stunned at the mass amount of carnage that lay before him. "Oh Primus." He breathed, feeling very, very sick. "n-next word. Protect."

_Inferno lay injured before him, a rocket blasting towards him. Red Alert charged, shooting off his own rocket as he struggled to drag Inferno back towards the Autobot line where he could be safe._

Arcwelder got his nausea under control, and made a note that the same mech had appeared in three of Red Alerts' images. "Alright, last word for this session. Job."

_Sideswipe fighting Sunstreaker, Bluestreak chattering off the rapidly growing confused Ironhides auditory receptors, Prowl and Jazz both chatting in a corner, several mechs play tussling, quiet room where only he and Inferno sat, row upon row of screens, Decepticons being repelled from the arc, Ratchet beating up the twins again…_ a multitude of images flashed across the screen, many too fast for Arcwelder too see.

Then, it was gone, as Red Alert sat up woozily, cradling his head in his hands. "Are you feeling ok?"

"No. I have a CPU ache worthy of Prime." Red Alert snarled, and got up shakily. "I'm never getting into that thing again. Never, ever again. Even you can't be worse that Ratchet on a rampage or Prime when he's in a bad mood."

Arcwelder was about to tut, when he realized that Red Alert actually worked with Prime, a rare privilege. "Very well then. I will not force you to."

Arcwelder also never wished to do this again. It felt very, _intrusive,_ to see the images like that, and he was shaken to the very spark to see what all Red Alert had gone through.

"But I noticed that one mech in particular kept coming up. Who was he?"

"My sparkmate."

O0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0

Waveshaft flinched as another explosion echoed down the hallway. "No, no, no, no!" he screamed to empty air. "I leave them alone for two-just two breems! How did they manage to blow up something else?"

Inferno laughed behind him. It was a rather dry, very mirthless laugh, but it was still a laugh. "I suggest you get used to it. The Arc has been holding back since you're new."

Waveshaft stared at Inferno as if he had never seen him before. "Wait, you're the only one so far who hasn't tried to destroy the Arc it seems like!"

Inferno lifted an optic ridge. While the Arks crew may be irresponsible, he didn't think they were _that_ bad. Jazz came around the corner at that moment, dragging the twins along. "Oh boy, now this I'll have to see Ratchet's expression on." Inferno muttered, and followed after them.

Waveshaft watched him go, and stumbled towards the control room, deciding that Prowl would have to handle it. He just couldn't take it anymore. When he got into the room, the two bots inside instantly took off, all too familiar with Red Alerts routine.

His leg was still dented from the run in with the Dynobots. He winced as he remembered them…

_Grimlock frowned down at Waveshaft, optics glaring at him in unwelcomeness. "You Waveshaft replace Red Alert?"_

"_That's right. I have."_

"_Want Red back now." Grimlock snarled, optics narrowing even further. "This mech not know how to speak."_

_Waveshaft looked over at Prowl, who quickly jumped in. "Grimlock, Red Alert isn't coming back for awhile. Until he does, you are to obey Waveshaft like you would Red Alert."_

_Grimlock grumbled, "Why should we listen to puny mech? He not Red. He not strong."_

_Waveshaft's optic ridge raised. "Strong? Him?" It was merely a whisper, but Grimlock caught it._

"_Very strong. Strong in mind. He like to fight also. And very good at letting us do what we want."_

_Waveshaft shrugged. "Well, you are not going to be going on any more rampages, unless Decepticons are nearby-"_

"_Nobody tells Grimlock what to do!" Grimlock roared, and charged. Waveshaft escaped by a hair._

Waveshaft sat down at the console, and contacted his superiors who had recommended him. "Sir. I cannot take any more of this. In the past three orns I have been nearly blown up five times, had to stop six brawls, repair eighteen cameras, send the twins to the medbay at least three times, nearly in a row, I can't take it any more!"

The line squawked on the other end, but Waveshaft wasn't listening as he started listing off his grievances.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Oh my, oh my, Waveshaft has cracked, now the only problem is bringing Red home, isn't that right?


	6. Chapter 6

Red Alert groaned as he rolled over in his recharge bunk, unable to recharge peacefully

Ok, I just noticed that last chapter I made a small mistake. It's actually been about a (human) week since Waveshaft got here, and Red left, so… sorry.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Red Alert groaned as he rolled over in his recharge bunk, unable to recharge peacefully. It had been a long time since he had slept by himself, instead of with Inferno's calm and soothing presence. And, despite the fact that it had been several days since he got here, he still couldn't recharge peacefully

He glanced around, and noted wryly that they had moved the items that he had stacked in front of the cameras. Arcwelder's peaceful breathing made Red Alert groan in near frustration. The mech was simultaneously in awe and fear of him, watching him closely enough that his glitch demanded that he offline the mech just to stop the staring. _No, calmness is key. Even if I don't get to be Security Director for any longer, I will get out of here at the appointed time, then I'll contact Inferno, and go to a nice, quiet base._

Red Alert knew it was wishful thinking. He knew that once you got into a place like this, they never let you go. He flipped over onto his side, and stared at the wall. A few breems later, he felt air rush by, signaling that the door had opened. By now he was half-recharging. But, as the air went by, he woke up, glitch taking over.

Tensely he waited, and listened as soft, steady footsteps sounded behind him. To a normal mech they would have been unhearable, but to a tense and glitchy Red Alert, they were as loud as a booming of thunder. When the mech bent over him, he lashed out, screaming a war cry.

The other bot had no chance. In half a click, he was unconscious and on the floor. Arcwelder sat up sleepily, rubbing the recharge effects out of his optics. "Red Alert, what are you doing—"

He stopped as he caught sight of a single mech on the floor. "What? What's Tamarnace doing in here?"

"He tired to sneak up on me." Red Alert snarled, optics blazing in fury. "He must have been watching through the camera over their-" Red Alert gestured at the 'hidden' camera, "And decided that I was recharging. But I don't feel like recharging just yet."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I don't feel like recharging! The only reason why I agreed to come back to this stupid room at all was because you looked like you were about to slip into recharge yourself." Red Alert snarled, his anger getting the better of him. He desperately wanted Inferno to be near, to be smiling… Quickly he wrenched his thoughts away, and glared at Arcwelder, who stared back.

Arcwelder's CPU might be still fogged by recharge, but he knew very well that Red Alert needed to channel his anger into something constructive. Tamarnace had made a huge mistake sneaking into the room, especially when they knew the glitch was paranoia. Without a second look at the mech lying on the floor he gestured to the door. "Very well then, now that I'm up, would you like to go somewhere? We have an extensive library, even a building and repair shop if you like tinkering around with items-"

Red Alert snapped, "Library." Who knows, maybe he could find something useful.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Waveshaft's jaw dropped as he listened to what the others were saying. "No, please, you don't know what it's like!" He sobbed, CPU about to breakdown and crack, "The twins, it's like they live only to fight! And Wheeljack, I've nearly been blown apart several times by him!"

Waveshaft jabbered on, trying to convince his superiors that he could not handle the explosions, antics, and strain of watching Arcs crew. "You have to be glitchy to want this job! In fact, I bet the only reason why Red Alert survived was because he was glitchy! I've been on this job for two-three days and already I'm cracked!"

A loud explosion rocked the Ark, but Waveshaft ignored it. Sounds of coughing filled his auditory receptors, but still, he ignored it. When mechs began screaming for Inferno, Waveshaft knew something had gone terribly wrong.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inferno had been moping when the explosion had rocked the Arc. He had ignored it, thinking it would be the same as usual. Wheeljack would stagger by, carrying various body parts, Ratchet would scream, Prowl would scream, Red Alert-was gone. No more yelling from him.

But, even as he thought about his spark mate, Bumblebee came up running. "Inferno! Fire in Wheeljack's lab! A huge one!"

Inferno changed and sped through the hallways, nearly knocking down several mechs who were attempting to search for something to put the fire out.

When he got their, he knew that the room was just about a lost cause. Cautiously he circled around the fire, and began spraying, driving it back. Ratchet roared over the crackling fire, "Inferno, Wheeljack is still in there!"

Inferno nearly stopped spraying. The heat was bad enough that even he didn't want to get close. For Wheeljack… "Alright, cover me, I'm going have to go in and get him out!" Inferno roared, and charged.

Wheeljack's room was hot enough that Inferno could nearly feel his wires melting. He glanced around, and saw Wheeljack curled up in a corner of the room, where he had apparently tried to get away from the fire.

Inferno ran, wanting out of the room. He may be specially designed to withstand heat, Wheeljack wasn't. He scooped up Wheeljack, noticing how soft the usually super tough metal was, and ran out into the cooler air beyond the fire. He then turned back to the fire.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

To say that the three mechs that were watching the room were surprised would be an understatement. They were beyond astonishment at the odd, random facts that popped up in Red Alert, and what it had to do with his glitch.

"A spark mate. Are you absolutely certain about this Arcwelder?"

Arcwelder nodded. "He said so, and from the looks of the new machine, it was true. I saw the same mech over and over, and, from all appearances, is indeed the one. But sir, he has refused to eat so far despite it being several days…"

"That's because all we have is high-grade, and he knows it."

Arcwelder looked at his superiors in confusion. The head mech shook his head. "Anyways, you took him to the library, right?"

"Yes, and then I took Tamarnace to the medbay. Sir…" Arcwelder hesitated, wondering how to say it. "If he had pulled one more wire, Tamarnace would have been offlined permanently. Yet, even with his glitch taking over, he didn't do anything like that. And, he knew where the cameras were."

"Of course. Since he's a security director, he would. But don't worry about Tamarnace. We had ordered him to make sure that Red Alert was recharging before he entered, but he didn't. He won't make that mistake again."

"I-I don't think he recharges all that peacefully. They say even on the trip here he was only in a half-recharge state, and he's been acting like he just got out of a long, refreshing recharge."

"It'll all work out in the end. Waveshaft should more then be able to handle the Arc."

"Sir, you keep on saying that."

"It's true, isn't it?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Waveshaft took a deep breath in, let it out slowly, and screamed, "I WANT OUT!"

The door hissed open a few moments later, and the twins bounded in, laughing. "Waveshaft! Guess what we found!"

"Their's a fire going on at Wheeljack's lab, and you two come here to tell me something?" Waveshaft asked, forgetting he was on the line to his superiors.

"Well, Inferno can take care of it. We just thought you might like a little love." Sideswipe said, smiling a cold, almost chilling smile. "After all, Smokescreen came up with this brand new smoke bomb…"

Waveshaft had no idea what happened next. One moment he was staring at the twins, the next moment he was looking at a room that had been colored bright pink. He hated the color pink.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Poor, poor Waveshaft. He can't stand the color pink.


	7. Chapter 7

Red Alert padded through the library, noting that none of the mechs were white

Where oh where have my reviewers gone? Where oh where can they be? Well, I think Waveshaft is about to crack completely, but then again, who knows? Red Alert is coming home, sometime soon. Maybe…

SsSsSsSsSs

Red Alert padded through the library, noting that none of the mechs were white. _I wonder why not. Maybe this truly is the only place they don't completely watch. _The thought was abruptly broken off as he felt the mech mere nanoclicks before slamming into him.

Red Alert screeched to a halt, only barely missing the other mech. The mech glared, his optics tinted slightly with red. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing" Red alert mumbled, his glitch was acting up and he needed something to take it off those around him. Or were supposed to be around him.

The mech growled, bending slightly so he could look Red Alert in the optics. "And why are you doing such a thing?"

"Because I can." His voice held all the authority he had ever had in life. It made the other mech back up slightly, glaring. "And I suggest that unless you want to end up getting hurt or punished, you back off now."

A low angry growl came from behind Red Alert, making him spin. Another mech had come up behind him, this one nearly as tall as Optimus Prime. "Oh Primus." Red Alert muttered, backing up to a wall. "I had to get into trouble, didn't I?"

The two mechs kept up the glare, which Red Alert returned. He was a proud Autobot warrior, and was going to act like one. Glitch or not.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Ah, it looks like a fight is getting ready to go on." Arcwelder said, in a lame attempt to change the subject.

The three mechs turned to look, and the leader nodded. "Very well then, you better go break it up. Those two aren't usually to be messed with. They've caused several damages in the faculties."

Arcwelder nodded, and ran out the door, hoping to get to the library before the fight started. He got there just as it began.

Red Alert knew that he couldn't possibly have too good a chance against two. In fact, Red Alert wanted to back out, but they had thrown the first punch. And he had reacted.

Moving with speed gained from taking front line fighting with the rest of the Arc, Red Alert ducked, foot lashing out. The taller of the two went down, shouting in agony as his knee joint was crushed. His partner hesitated, a crime on the battlefield. If you hesitated you were dead.

He went down with only a single, clear, pained scream. Red Alert stood, wires in hand, panting harshly. Arcwelder gulped and said softly, "Red Alert."

Red Alert looked back at him, optics a frightening cold blue. But then, they thawed to normal paranoia blue optics. "Everyone is out to get me." He grumbled, backing away from the mechs.

The first mech still rolled on the ground, clutching his knee. "I'll get you for this!"

"You will do nothing." Arcwelder snapped, staring hard. "You're to go back to the special detainment faculty until you can prove that you have your cruelty glitch under control."

His companion whimpered as he slowly came online. Arcwelder realized distantly that Red Alert had replaced the wires, but he was more concerned about the approaching guards. Red Alert stiffened, and moved backwards, nearly pressing into the data shelves. His optics for a moment resembled a trapped animal; lost, lonely, and ready to fight.

Arcwelder nearly groaned aloud. All of the tiny trust he might of gotten was now down the drain. Red Alert had quiet empathetically refused to go anywhere other then the cafeteria with him. Other then that, he stayed in his room, watching nothing, yet watching everything at the same time.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Waveshaft glanced around, optics disbelieving. The twins were gone. They had disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The room was bright pink. Had he ever mentioned that he hated the color pink?

For a few moments his CPU struggled to process the turn of events, and he began saying in a quiet, almost calm voice, "The room is pink. The room is Pink. The room is PINK! THE ROOM IS PINK!"

The mechs over the link winced as he began laughing, crazily. They cut the link, and the leader tuned to the rest. "It looks like our plans are going down the drain."

"I told you we should have gotten someone better then Waveshaft. He was a rookie, untested and untried. It's no surprise he cracked so soon."

"Yes, but what are we going to do now? After all, they paid us good money to bring them Red Alert so they could study him."

"We only said we'd try. They've already paid us, so, time for him to go back."

"Alright. I'll start making arrangements."

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Inferno coughed loudly as he waved the smoke away. It had been a long, desperate fight against the fire, as it had melted about half of Wheeljack's inventions, exploding them at a thousand at a time. He looked around, searching for any more pockets of the fire. Seeing none, he staggered out of the room. "It should be safe now. Just don't jolt any of Wheeljacks stuff before they cool. Otherwise another fire will spring up."

Nods went around the crew as Prowl appeared at last. "Inferno, what happened?"

"Nobody was watching the cameras. Wheeljacks explosion caused a fire, and it might have been better contained if what's-his-name had been paying better attention. Now, I'm beat. Wake me up when we get someone who can actually watch in the control room."

Inferno knew that Waveshaft could probably hear it, but he didn't care at that moment. Prowl looked at him oddly, as Bumblebee chipped in, "C'mon Inferno, you're being a little hard on him. He is after all brand new, and nobody can duplicate what Red Alert does."

Inferno shook his head. "Any competent mech should of realized that a fire was going on. The fact that he didn't means that he wasn't paying attention. Even the twins know when something bad goes on in the Arc."

"Speaking of the twins, where are they?"

Sideswipe said causally from where he was at near the back of the crowd, "Oh, I found that Waveshaft hates the color pink, and I just happened to get my hands on one of those pink smoke bombs Smokescreen has, so…"

He shrugged casually. Prowl looked heavenward as he pleaded to Primus, _Please, let Red Alert get back soon. I can't do this by myself. _

Out loud he said, "Both of you, I'm not even going to bother dragging you to the brig. Go down there, and lock yourselves in. After five orns or so, you may leave and swab the floor of the cafeteria with a chalkboard eraser. And please, leave the newbie alone. I don't want to have to explain why he came back glitchy."

"Isn't he already that?" Sunstreaker asked smugly. "When we were in there, he was blubbering."

Then, someone asked the question that had been hovering on the CPU's of all the Arc's crew. "What happened to Red Alert anyways?"

SsSsSsSsSsSs

What happened indeed? Shall we find out sometime soon? Will Prowl and the commanders ever explain it, and Poor Inferno, he never gets much time with Red, does he?


	8. Chapter 8

Well, I got my reviewers (you were all so silent! Tears up and cries) Anyways, I noticed that this story isn't as popular as my stories with Disingenu, but that might only be because the others have more chapters… Oh well, I don't really think I could care. But, I am working on the sequel for them. It just might take some time.

SsSsSsSsSsSs

Prowl stared at the mech who had said it. "Well… it will have to remain a secret for a little longer, but as soon as we get Red Alert back, we, as commanding officers, will inform you on what's been going on."

An angry mutter rippled through the crowd, but they knew better then to try to pull information from Prowl. The twins looked at each other and Sideswipe asked casually of his brother, "That party, is their any chance of changing out the high-grade with a concoction of our own?"

"It all depends on how well Jazz can take care of Prowl. We don't have to worry about Red Alert anymore." Sunstreaker replied, optics glancing around.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert wondered how the heck he had gotten pulled into this. After the fight last night, the party for opening day was celebrated. Which meant plenty of high-grade, all of which tempted him and repulsed him at the same time. He had gone without energon for nearly three days now, and was beginning to feel it.

Arcwelder seemed to be completely occupied chattering away to several other bots on the side. They approached, high-grade in their hands, and smiling. His glitch and CPU fell into perfect agreement. _They are out to get me. Where should I run?_

He glanced around, desperate for some way of escape. But it was too late… "Well Red Alert, guess what?"

Red Alert said nothing, mutely staring back at the foolishly grinning mech. He could smell the reek of too much high-grade, nearly making his nose wrinkle in disgust. The mech seemed unaware of the animosity that rolled off of the fuming lamborghini as he continued, "We just got a call. Looks like Waveshaft snapped."

_Already? I would of given him a day or so more. Well, if they were going easy on him that is._ Red Alert stared back, feeling the slight hope that he finally might get out of this prison camp. "And, well, they want you back. So, tomorrow you're on the first ship out of here."

"That is good to hear." Red Alert said softly, optics looking into the distance. "Yes, it is indeed. I hope that the Arc hasn't blown up yet. And poor Prowl. Having to handle the twins alone. Ouch."

Red Alert shook his head, remembering and planning on what to do once he got back onto the Arc. The mech smiled as he shoved an energon cube into Red's hand. "Here, we know you don't like to drink, but go ahead and have a sip. Just one."

"I don't drink. Ever." Red Alert said softly, his optics instantly distrustful and wary.

The mech cursed inwardly, even as he kept up his fake smile. "Very well then. We'll leave you to your musings."

As they pulled away, they whispered to one another. "I told you it wouldn't work."

"I know. But still, we have to study him as much as possible while we still can. If we can just get him for two breems, I'll have enough information to keep him tied up with red tape on this planet for the next few vorns!"

"Too bad we can't just force it down and hook him up to a machine to run through all the possibilities we can think of."

The mechs looked at each other, not realizing that Red Alert had heard every word, and the high-grade making them stupider then usual. "Let's do it then. I'll round up several of the guards to help, you guys go get everything set up."

Red Alert stood, panicking. However he forced himself to calmness, and slowly began edging away from the party. He was a master of doing so, having perfected the art over a lifetime. Arcwelder never noticed as his charge went missing.

Red Alert strode down the hallways, carefully avoiding cameras, timing his movement so that he was always in a blind spot. He kept his auditory receptors sharpened for any sound possible, his glitch creating sound that drowned nearly drowned out the real sound. Nearly.

He could faintly hear singing coming from a room to his right. Red Alert cracked open the door a little, and sighed in relief as he looked inside. It was the control room. Inside he could find all the equipment possible for both contacting the Arc, and making sure that he wouldn't get caught.

The two bots on duty were regular colored, and obviously drunk. They were ignoring all else except for the cubes in front of them, chugging down the cubes in huge gulps. Red Alert again wondered at the stupidity of getting high. _The state that happens doesn't last very long, and they get a hangover the next day. It doesn't seem at all right to me._

The mechs inside both laughed as they chugged down another cube, sloping about half the contents onto themselves. Red Alert waited patiently. Another cube and they should be out for the rest of the night.

Red Alert smiled as he heard the clanging of two bots hitting the floor. Silently and like a ghost he slipped in, and bent over the controls.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jazz jumped as a message dinged loudly on Prowl's personal pager. He had been struggling to do the paperwork that Prowl usually did as Prowl went around, trying to restore some sort of semblance of peace and quiet on the Arc.

He opened up the message, and grinned as Red Alert's welcome voice came over. "This is Red Alert, having snuck into and currently taking over the control room of the faculty. Do you read me?"

"I hear you loud and clear Red. How's it been going?"

"Let's see, I've been tried to be force fed high-grade. I've been hooked up to a machine that give me a headache worse then Prime does. I am currently being chased to see how far they can push my glitch before I loose control. I'm hacking into the computers now, but I'm having trouble."

"Ouch. Too bad. Inferno has been moping ever since you left. And Waveshaft. I think he's gone glitchy." Jazz said casually, believing that some of what Red Alert said was an exaggeration.

"Of course. You have to be glitchy if you want to be security director to a bunch of mechs who wouldn't know safety if it came with the label 'vacation'."

"Speaking of which, we still haven't gotten you and Prowl one, have we?"

"No. And just so you know, as soon as I'm getting back, I'm not going to get off the Arc unless Inferno is coming with me."

"That'll be easy enough."

"And I'm leaving behind Prowl."

"Well—"

"Yeah, keep wishing Jazz. Ok, I'm in. Looks like I haven't been lied to. Tomorrow at around 1800 hours (A/N: five o'clock PM) I'm registered to be sent off planet. I'm not sure how long it'll take me to get to you all though."

"It'll all be fine." Jazz said confidently. "Just get on that ship, and make sure you get back to us. I think at this point the crew is ready to take you back, in pieces or whole, they just plain want their trademark glitchy mech."

"Trademark?"

"Of course. Every crew has to have at least one glitchy mech. It's in all the movies. You're ours."

"So glad that I'm wanted." Red Alert said sarcastically. "Well Jazz, just so you know, when I do get back, I'm locking me and Inferno in the same room for the next few orns."

Jazz thought about it, as he turned back to the paperwork. "Alrighty, maybe when you're done, you could lend the room to me? I've got several ideas for Prowl, but I haven't been able to catch him."

Red Alert grinned. "Just have a nice, warm, medium-grade energon cube waiting for me and I'll be your servant. I haven't eaten once since getting here."

Jazz sat up straight. "What?"

"I told you, they've only been giving me high-grade. I'm about to collapse here."

"I thought you were joking! But, just stick to the control room. They shouldn't be able to find you their."

"No, looks like guards are coming. I'm going have to end transmissions with you Jazz. Bye."

Before Jazz could protest, the link went dead.

O0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert sped through the hallways, heading for the tinkering room. The cameras in that room were spotty at best, so it would be a perfect place to hide out for now.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Hmmmm, is it just me, or did this chapter seem incredibly corny? And I noticed something wrong with how I've been uploading each chapter. Theirs an extra line on the very top, and its beginning to drive me nuts, because I can't figure how to get rid of it XD


	9. Chapter 9

A lot of people are telling me I need beta readers, but unfortunately, I have no idea what those are, other then they read over your chapters. Thanks to all those who reviewed, you really made a bright spot in my day after I found a group of boys used my hair as a goal and threw gum or something like that at me.

It took HOURS to get out. (flops down and sobs) Well, this is actually the first time, but it sucks to have long hair sometimes.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Red Alert entered the room, his optics scanning fast. There was nothing to hide behind. With a growl he wondered if he could make it to the library. No, he could hear the footsteps coming behind him.

Desperate he searched the room. Stopped, looked around the room once more. Something was off here… His optics looked out of the window. It had no bars. It led to the outside easily. He grinned, and slipped out the window.

Red Alert could hear the confused babble of voices behind him as he made his way back to the party. True, they might be searching for him there, but instincts honed from dodging irate commanders about false alarms told him that they wouldn't look where they had already searched.

O0o0o0o0oo0o0o0

Arcwelder was just beginning to panic about his missing charge when Red Alert appeared on the edges of the crowd, casually making his way through. Arcwelder stormed over to where Red Alert was, scolding. "Red Alert, I was worried that you had gone and vanished!"

Red Alert said nothing. Arcwelder continued, "I just got the news that tomorrow you'll be blasting off at 1800, so you should come and have at least a single sip. Don't worry, it isn't high-grade. I specially requested some medium grade because you haven't eaten for awhile."

Arcwelder held out the energon. Red Alert took it slowly, but didn't touch the contents. Arcwelder sighed in frustration. He wondered how Waveshaft was dealing with his group.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Jazz charged out of Prowls office, shouting for Prime. Prime appeared, slightly confused, Ratchet on his heels. "Good, both of you are here." Jazz snarled. "Listen to this!"

Puzzled, Prime flicked on the recording, and both of them stiffened as they listened. Ratchets gaze turned to Prime. "Those-those absolute, pit-slaggin' morons! If Red Alert glitches serious enough, it'll be irreparable! And here they are, trying to _make_ him glitch."

Prime was silent, and then he looked up. "Jazz, where's Prowl?"

"He's currently trying to get a bit of peace, and some sort of resemblance of quiet onboard. I offered to do his paperwork for him."

"Good. Page him, and tell him to get the entire crew off to the main meeting hall. I don't think that Lantem is going to give Red Alert back to us unless we ask directly."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

All mechs onboard jostled each other for space as they crowded into the only room able to hold all of them at once. Inferno glanced around, and smiled wryly as he saw Waveshaft wedged into a corner, being interrogated by the arielbots. He was stammering, and shaking his head.

Sunstreaker muttered, "Maybe Prime's gonna tell us what's going on finally."

Prime entered at that moment. Grimlock was the first to step foreword. "Me Grimlock want to know where Red Alert go now!"

Optimus Prime said coolly, "I'm about to explain. Please back up Grimlock."

Angrily Grimlock obeyed, muttering and scowling to himself. Optimus Prime took a deep breath, and began explaining. "About a week ago, a rather grave concern was brought up in a conference about whether Red Alert should be allowed on the Ark. In order to prove that Red Alert was the only one who could handle this job, we agreed to take whomever they wanted until they cracked. Then, never again would they bring up Red Alert's glitch."

A loud, angry mutter swept through the mechs. Why hadn't they been told? They would've sent the other packing, gone to that planet, and demanded Red Alert back. "In order to make sure that it was a real test, we agreed not to tell anyone. Red Alert was sent somewhere else, and we got Waveshaft."

Gazes were switched to Waveshaft, none of them friendly. Even Bluestreak had no sympathy for the now quivering mech. Optimus Prime cleared his throat for attention. "We just requested that Red Alert to be sent back. But we were refused. In another two orns, Red Alert is scheduled to be taken off planet. Where, no one knows, but it defiantly isn't the Ark."

The angry murmur grew to a crackling rage. They had fought hundreds of battles together. They might fight within themselves, and against each other, but pity upon the poor mech who actually hurt one of them, for they were family. One of the most oddest, most unusual families ever to roam the galaxy, each coming from different walks of life, and different types of likes and dislikes, but they were family. And the number one rule of family is to stick together and protect your own.

The planet Lantem had made a serious mistake messing with the Ark. After all, were they not the best of the best? Inferno snarled, "Why did you let him go anyways?"

"We didn't have much choice in the matter. The entire council had agreed on the plan. Only Ratchet, Prowl, Jazz and I were the ones against it. We were overruled."

"Well, why are we standing around?" Sideswipe asked grumpily. "Let's go get our security director back! I want to light some firecrackers under his chair!"

The entire crew raced through the Ark, preparing for battle. Prowl beckoned to his tacticians, and said, "We must figure out a plan. We cannot just charge on, and expect to find Red Alert. If he does go glitchy, he might not even be able to trust us."

Inferno said over shoulder, "Leave the Red Alert to me. He trusts me despite his glitch since we're sparkmates and all."

Prowl shook his head. "That's good enough for you, but Red Alert is still likely to run at first unless we trap him somewhere."

Inferno shook his head, but his optics became worried. "Alright, I suppose." He muttered. "Red Alert will shut down if even a bolt of electricity is near his horns."

Prowl nodded, filing the information away for later. "Just don't tell the twins."

"If they do ever learn, I'll ask that Ratchet completely wipes their memory." Prowl promised.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Red Alert shifted nervously, feeling very uneasy. He had kept in the middle of the party, trying to keep his glitch under control, but it wasn't working. He flinched when a hand descended upon his back.

He turned around, fist flying out. The security guard caught it, twisting it so that the nuts keeping it up snapped. Red Alert wrenched backwards, his optics narrowing, glitch completely taking over.

There was no rational thought in Red Alerts CPU, just _Destroy! Kill them, and make sure that they can never betray you. Make sure that they won't be able to destroy those you love._ He shook his head, his logic processor working for a single clear moment, _Run. You can't fight them all._

Red Alert ran, quickly vanishing into the darkness, figuring on going into his room. Sirens blared around him, but he didn't care, he was going to find a gun, get into a tiny, defensible room, and kill all those who came close- CRUNCH!

Red Alert whimpered in pain as he collapsed on the badly damaged leg. Many mechs would have been unconscious, but Red Alert dragged himself upright, back to the wall. _Ark is coming, have to hold on_ flashed across his CPU, before he remembered, _no, I'm not on the Ark, I'm beyond the Ark, and they don't know-_

Three security guards appeared out of the gloom, holding weapons. Red Alert held still, pretending that he couldn't move. When the five guards got close enough, he charged the astonished guards, screaming a war cry.

SsSsSsSsSsSs

Fight Red Alert! Fight!


	10. Chapter 10

Yeah to all those who reviewed! (chomps on cookies) I locked Red Alert and Inferno in separate rooms. Fell the wrath of—

(Inferno and Red Alert stamp in, furious) Uh-oh… Running!

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The Ark sped through space, hoping to get to Lantem before Red Alert was sent off. The chances of finding him afterwards were none. Prowl had calculated it eight times. So, the mechs on board silently geared up for the battle that was about to take place as Prime talked on the line with Lantems head superiors. "I'm telling you, unless you hand Red Alert back to us, we are going to come and take him back."

The mech scoffed, his blinding white paint reflecting the light onto the holovid, making it hard to see him. "I don't think so Prime. We're a civilian planet, and we also have some of the best guards in the universe. Even if you were crazy enough to attack, we can easily repel you-"

"I wouldn't count on it. Even the Dynobots have agreed to fight for Red Alert, and willingly." Prime warned. Even now, according to his nature, he was giving them a way out.

The mech laughed at the great and mighty Prime, as he said, "Very well, we will have to step up our experiments on Red Alert then, won't we?"

Prime stiffened, and Ratchet pushed him to one side. "Don't you dare!" Ratchet howled, "I spent nearly a hundred vorns attempting to sort out his glitch! Don't you dare make it worse!"

The holovid shut off. Ratchet's hand tightened on the table, before he sat down, anger boiling inside of him. Then, he calmly opened the intercom that would reach across the entire ship. "Listen up everyone, this is your friendly medic. I am here to tell you that if any of you even think about holding back in this fight, I'll weld you all to the ceiling. Destroy every mech you come across."

Prime backed away from the grin that was stretching across Ratchets face. "But, I now have a personal agendas. I want the mech that has a red X across his chest. He's the head master. I'm going to dissect his CPU with a spork." Ratchet laughed amusedly, a laugh that sent a cold chill down the sparks of all those listening.

Prime said softly, "Umm, Ratchet, we can't take prisoners-"

"Who said that he's a prisoner?" Ratchet asked. "No, I'm going to tie him down on his own med bay-"

Ratchet began going into great detail of what he was going to do, well aware that it was being broadcasted across the entire ship.

Ironhide shivered, Grimlock with the rest of the dynobots cowered in a corner, the twins clutched at each other and prayed, the arielbots stuck together, and those alone dashed for the closest person they could see. Something in Ratchets voice scared the spark right out of them. The twins echoed what was felt throughout the entire Ark. "I am glad that we are not part of Lantem."

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Red Alert wrestled one of the guns away, and shot twice, killing the two shocked guards. He turned coldly to the running feet, the gun flashing in the light. A group of white mechs with red crosses on their arms appeared around the corner. Red Alert fired, coldly aiming for the sparks.

The mechs screamed and went back around the corner. Red Alert debated chasing after them, but- Red Alert turned fast, firing off three shots. Two of the mechs sneaking up behind him dropped, and the remaining five charged. Red Alert fired desperately, and cursed softly as they got too close. One arm was out of commission, his legs couldn't move- "Go interface yourself." He spat, and threw himself on the closest mech, his one good arm ripping out of the wires.

The remaining four didn't hesitate, pulling Red Alert kicking, fighting and screaming. One of them brought up a stunner, and shocked Red Alert.

Red Alert snarled, and surged upwards despite the pain, his hand grasping the machine. The startled mech stumbled backwards, but kept a hold of the stunner. Red Alert reached across, and threw the mech on his unusable left arm across his shoulder. The mech landed, breath knocked out of him.

The guards exchanged slightly frightened glances. They were from the school of hard knocks, but it had been a long time since they had fought any one with actual abilities to fight. They had gotten lazy, and now they were feeling it. One of them glanced over to the two dead mechs that lay in a pool of their own energon, and gulped.

Red Alert breathed harshly, his optics blank. Arcwelder appeared at that moment. "Red Alert?"

He stopped dead, optics wide at the carnage before him. Red Alerts optics flickered towards him, and for a moment, Red Alert hesitated, frowning slightly. Arcwelder quickly pressed his advantage. "Red Alert, what are you doing?"

Red Alert's head tilted as he regarded the psychiatrist coldly. The guards called back, "Doc, get out of here. His glitch has gone overboard, and we have to take him down-"

Red Alert growled, and attacked, arm streaking out fast. These he didn't kill, merely off lining them. Red Alert stood on the pile of bodies, eyeing the wires coolly. Arcwelder gulped, and held both hands in front of him. "Red Alert, calm down. You must fight your glitch. You mustn't allow it to take over."

Red Alert backed away, eyeing him. Arcwelder continued talking, babbling about small things, like how the sun felt today, different cloud formations. Red Alert turned tail, and moved slowly into another hallway, trying to flee to a medbay where he could repair himself. He didn't get far. A group of eighty mechs appeared, holding guns and stunners. They charged Red Alert.

Reed Alert fought like one possessed, but he was swiftly brought down. A large mech appeared suddenly around the corner. On his chest was a single large X. "Sir!" Arcwelder gasped, one hand coming up in a salute.

The mech nodded. "No need. I came here to see how our newest patient was doing."

Arcwelder glanced at Red Alert. Red Alerts optics locked with his for one clear moment before they forcibly off-lined him. "Excuse me, Starwave, but… why this? Why do you have to forcibly restrain him?"

"His glitch I believe is paranoia, is it not?"

"Well, yes sir, but what does that-"

"Only one in every million mechs that have any type of glitch at all, have paranoia." Starwave interrupted, "Red Alert here is the second recorded case."

Arcwelder stared at Starwave in amazement. "Bu-but…"

"All other who had paranoia glitches have actually turned out to be a combination of glitches. But to have actual paranoia, that is something special. We need to take the opportunity and study him as much as possible—"

Arcwelder stared at Starwave in acute horror. "Bu-but, aren't we supposed to be helping him?"

Starwave laughed softly, "We will, as soon as we have thoroughly studied him."

Arcwelder shook his head, staring at Starwave. "You-you can't be serious! If, if you're actually going to do a through study, then the chances are we'd never be able to help him. In fact, many come out of such treatments completely broken. That's why at the very start of the treatments, they banned doing it all on one mech—"

Starwave smiled, as he said, "Well, what the higher-ups don't know won't hurt them, now will it? If you keep this quiet, I'll promote you to the second in command. It's been a long time since I saw someone with as much potential as you."

Arcwelder stared after the man he had idolized since he was a sparkling as he casually assigned Red Alert to one of the worst possible tortures. Then he slowly nodded. He knew what he had to do. Silently he turned and began walking.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Prowl looked up as a message dinged on the pager. It was from the planet Lantem, and held an attachment. Curious, yet wary, he opened it. And smiled. A very cold smile.

_You better hurry, I downloaded a copy of the faculty, and circled where Red Alert should be. In exchange, I ask that you don't destroy the small building out back where I'll be taking those with harmless glitches in order to make sure they don't get damaged._

Prowl had no idea who this was, but he was more then willing to leave those with glitches alone. He sent back a message. _Very well, but we will be looking them over at the end. Ratchet wants the headmech._

_Ratchet? As in the famous Hatchet? If so, he's welcome to him. He's in room 409._

Prowls optic ridges rose. But he said nothing, and replied back, _Very well, start moving, for we will be reaching the planet in half a orn._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Arcwelder smiled at Prowls message, and quietly began ushering the mechs with small glitches, such as a glitch of being unable to say certain words or something like that, into the safe house. Arcwelder had already spread the word among the other hospital bots, and they had all agreed with Starwave, disgusting the CPU out of Arcwelder. They called him an idealist, but as he thought, he remembered the few times when Red Alert did speak.

When Red Alert did speak, he would talk about the Ark, filling Arcwelders head with the various antics of a whole lot of sparklings put into full-grown bodies. Arcwelder smiled slightly at the memories, and shut the door.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Prowl turned to the tacticians that surrounded him, and brought up a vid of the plans just sent to him. "This is the faculty we will be attacking. These places are off limits. And, Ratchet will be taking this room. I believe he has a vendetta to settle."

Those around the table shuddered at the memory of Ratchet describing in energon detail on how he was going to disassemble headmech. "Very well. Shall we start planning?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Arks crew grinned as the battle plan for what they were about to do popped up on screen. They were officially ready to fight.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Arcwelder! I never knew you had it in you—Arcwelder has certainly developed as a character. I was planning on having him as a bad guy, but he took himself out of my hands, and Starwave walked right in. Funny how that works out…


	11. Chapter 11

Here we go, the chapter that everyone was asking for. Hah! I shoulda made you all wait longer, but I wanted to know your reactions as well. Grimlock and the dynobots here feature predominantly thanks to Vigatus. I only hope I got how they act and talk right XD

SsSsSsSsSsSsS

The planet Lantem came into view, the faculty standing out like a sore thumb. Grimlock and the rest of the dynobots all looked at it, and Grimlock decided to scrap all of the plans. He didn't like the look of the buildings at all. He was going to destroy them from foundation up—

"Grimlock, remember, you must head for the main power source, or we won't be able to find Red Alert."

Grimlock scowled at Prime. He still hadn't forgiven the commander for sending off Red Alert without his express permission. "Me Grimlock no forget. Me Grimlock destroy puny building."

Prime nearly shouted at Grimlock, but reminded himself to stay calm. Prowl appeared, followed by Swoop. Swoop landed on top of a camera, carefully arranging his feet so he did not destroy the delicate instrument.

It had taken Red Alert nearly five vorns in order to teach Swoop how to do that, and for Swoop to actually obey. Grimlock nodded, Red Alert when furious was bad. Even he kept from truly infuriating the security director.

Jazz's voice cracked across the Ships intercom. "Alright, I'm in front of the building now. Uploading coordinates, now destroy at will."

The most dangerous of the Autobots dropped down towards the faculty. Aerialbots, Dynobots, and the twins were to create a distraction, while the rest of the Autobots spread through the faculty to look for Red Alert. Actually, the Dynobots were assigned to take out the main generator and cut off the energy source.

The Aerialbots took off, screeching down to earth, Silverbolt muttering, "Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down."

The attack had begun. They were here to retrieve what had been stolen from them.

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Grimlock looked around, confused. He had thought he had followed Prowls instructions. Two rights, three lefts, and another right. Maybe he had taken a wrong turn somewhere while chasing the screaming white mechs?

Grimlock snorted at the memory of them. They had taken one look, and started running. Grimlock had chased them, changing quickly, intent on stamping out their puny sparks, and nearly done so, when Prowl had reminded him of his mission. Grimlock's tail lashed out, creating a hole in the wall. "If Grimlock can't walk, Grimlock destroy way."

It made sense to him. If you destroyed enough of the rooms, you eventually had to get to where you were going. And even if you didn't, destruction was always good.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert on-lined slowly, glitch and CPU fighting to take control. His optics turned on as they swept the room. It was filled with softly talking mechs, motioning to different monitors. He couldn't spot Arcwelder anywhere. He strained his auditory units for what they were saying. "Hmm, we can't pump him, how about we put it directly into his tubes?"

"No, no, it won't work all that well. It'll be high grade certainly, but his energon processor is there for a reason."

Red Alert attempted to sit up, and found he could only just barely move an arm. He gritted his teeth, and pulled himself the rest of the way up. Heads turned, and one of the psychiatrists began backing up. Red Alert was officially notorious, and none of them wanted to get close while he was online. Red Alert hissed softly in pain as he pulled a tube out of himself.

"What! No, don't!" One of the braver mechs leaped foreword, wrestling Red Alert down. Red Alert was too weak to really fight.

Another mech moved foreword to help, and between the two, they strapped Red Alert down onto the bunk. "Alright, lets start the tests. It'll be easier with him online." The leader of the group said.

"Aren't we supposed to wait for Starwave?"

"Too bad. He's two breems overdue. If he was coming, he'd be here by now."

"Huh, I wonder what's taking him?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Starwave stared at Ratchet, feeling as if someone had just sucked the energon right out of him. "Y-you!"

"So glad that you finally remembered me Starwave." Ratchet said sarcastically, fingering his tools. "So, shall we do this?"

"Don't you dare touch me Ratchet!" Starwave hissed, bristling. "If you take one foot closer to me, I'll call the guards, and have you arrested."

"Oh, you mean the two pieces of slag outside your door? I'm afraid they can't move. Having a wrench slammed into their main nerve units does that."

Starwave's optics flickered in fear for the first time. "Y-you didn't…No, you did. You were always the more violent yet idealistic of us apprentices. You remind me of that fool Arcwelder."

Ratchet frowned slightly. The name seemed slight familiar—BOOM! Both heads turned to look out the window. The building that Grimlock had entered was collapsing. Inside they could hear maniacal laughter from the twins, and Grimlock emerged, like something out of a horror vid.

He was covered in dust, but there wasn't a single dent, and the sharp row of teeth was shinny as ever. Grimlock crouched down and roared a triumphant roar that echoed across the courtyard. Then he charged the white mechs. They ran, scattering and screaming in terror. Ratchets optic ridge rose as he muttered, "I didn't think Grimlock would get into the spirit of things so quickly."

"You're crazy, attacking a civilian place like this—"

"Shut up. I did my own searching. You actually condition drones for fighting, don't you? For the Decepticons. That's why you wanted Red Alert. Because his glitch was so unusual, and if you could find out how to make it, you could place it inside of the drones and make them twice as hard to defeat. You've lied to your co-workers, pretending you want to study his glitch so you can be honored. It's just for the money."

There was a quiet cold fury that underlined Ratchets voice. Starwave laughed, and nodded. "Yes, your right. Red Alerts glitch is unusual, but it's already too late. They should of started experimenting two-three breems ago. By the time you or yours gets to him, it'll be too late."

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Did they start experimenting? Well, find out next chapter. After all, not enough reviews means no next chapter. MUHAHAHAHA! (coughs) Actually, I'll update no matter how many reviews I get because I'm nice, but still, reviews really brighten up my day!


	12. Chapter 12

Ok, sorry it took me this long to post up, but I wasn't allowed to go home until 8:55 pm, and this chapter was defiantly a hard one. Hopefully it'll live up to all of your expectations. XD

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Ratchet froze, optics cold. The twins bounded in, carrying the offlined mechs. "Ratchet, we went to the room you told us to, and we didn't find Red Alert. Inferno is out tearing down all mechs he can see, asking them if they know where Red Alert is, but none have seen him."

Ratchets optics turned to Starwave. "He knows. Have fun getting the information out of him."

Ratchet turned and walked out of the room. Sunstreaker asked softly, "Shouldn't we allow Inferno the honor?"

"Why, Sunny, I can't believe that you actually agree with me once. Inferno would be more then willing to rip this guy apart with his bare hands." Sideswipe chuckled, sending off a message.

"Okay, he's coming. I suggest we make sure that the room is securely locked before we go."

"Yes, we don't need him to go flying through the door. The poor door doesn't deserve such evil treatment."

Neither twin flinched as Grimlock went barreling into several dangerously glitchy mechs.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Prowl glanced at Jazz. "So, you're certain you found the Decepticon drones?"

"Yep, all ready to go. Except for the insignia…"

"Very well, take Bumblebee, Mirage, and several others, and go paint the Autobots symbol on them. Set them to online when the Decepticons should be coming to pick them up. It'll destroy their forces faster, and we don't even have to break a sweat."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert struggled weakly against his bonds, making it hard for them to hook up the delicate equipment. One of the mechs eventually became frustrated. "Let's just zap him. Then we'll wake him up when it's time to flip the machine on."

They nodded, and were about to flick Red Alert off, when an echoing boom caught their auditory receptors. Puzzled, they fell silent, attempting to hear what was going on. Screams and shouts echoed into the building. And the room had soundproof walls.

Red Alert smiled weakly, it looked like either Decepticons were attacking, or the Autobots were coming to rescue him. The pessimist side told him that it was Decepticons, but something else told him that the Arks crew was here.

He sighed as he attempted to relax slightly, confident that they would come rescue- _NO! Their all evil, all of them! They'll sell you for spare parts!_ His glitch shriek, throwing his CPU off balance.

Red Alert struggled against his bonds, attempting to get away. _Everyone was out to get him, he had to get away, he had to get away, HE HAD TO GET AWAY!_

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inferno sauntered out of the room holding the badly damaged Starwave, and he said softly, "Room 410, they had to change at the last moment."

"Room 410, but we already checked-"

"There are two rooms. You can access one of them typing in the special code."

"Get it?" Sideswipe asked cheerfully, hand sliding down his weapon.

"Did you really need to ask?" Inferno asked, holding up a card. "This baby is the master key to the entire faculty."

Grimlock roared up, "You find Red Alert yet?"

"We're close Grimlock, keep destroying." Came the automatic three yells.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The mechs glanced at the struggling Red Alert, and back at the door. "Well, I suppose that the guards will be able to protect us. We should start-"

"Are you crazy? No, keep quiet. Hopefully they'll pass us by. Start hooking him up, but don't start the process."

Several of them nodded, and one quietly flicked Red Alert off. Two others rapidly hooked him up to a series of cables and lines. The remaining two kept near the door, and waited breathlessly. "Alright, we're hooked up. Flick on whenever you wish."

The others nodded, and flicked on the machine. It whirled to life, and began the data copying. They kept one careful auditory receptor on the screaming.

After several long, agonizing breems, the screaming stopped, and the door slid open to reveal a group of furious autobots. The mechs hissed in surprise as Optimus Prime strode through the doorway, soaked in energon. Inferno was right behind, and his optics darted around worriedly, searching for Red Alert.

Red Alert moaned and twitched slightly, despite the fact that he had been switched off. The mechs jumped away, startled, and Inferno rushed foreword, followed by Ratchet. Ratchet scowled in a black fury as he looked the badly damaged Red Alert over. "Which one of you had the slagging, pit-"

Red Alert moaned again, and thrashed against the bonds that kept him down. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe herded the white mechs into the corner, keeping one worried optic on Red Alert. "Inferno, help me remove these wires." Ratchet barked, hands already working.

Inferno placed down his gun, and gently eased the lines out of Red Alerts body, his voice soothing the thrashing security director. "Easy Red, easy. It's me Inferno. Don't worry, we'll have ya back on the Arc in no time."

Red Alert calmed slightly under Infernos soothing words, and stopped moving enough that Inferno and Ratchet could pull out the rest of the wires. Inferno looked at Ratchet, who gestured to the door. Inferno nodded, and swept Red Alert into his arms.

Prowl sent off the message. "We have retrieved Red Alert. Please move back towards the Ark."

Prime glanced at Ratchet as Ratchet hesitated, frowning. "Something wrong Ratchet?"

"Yeah, I'm just trying to remember something about some mech named Arcwelder…" Ratchet said thoughtfully.

"Arcwelder. He is now the new owner of this place. He has been appointed by the head of the medic society, to replace Starwave." Prowl said calmly. "Let's get back onto the Ark."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Arcwelder stared at the message, feeling as if he had been kicked to one side of the universe, only to land in the arms of a beautiful femme. Embarrassing, but amazing. He was now the owner of the faculty (or what was left of it. Grimlock had done a number on many of them) he was in charge of all mechs (All of which were currently crammed in the same room as him) and his pay had been brought up (by three units, but hey, that was a lot these days)

"You know Red Alert, maybe you were my lucky charm." He murmured, and his eyes looked down at the very bottom.

It read: _As the first commission from the Autobots, we ask that you take care of Waveshaft. We'll be checking in on him in another eight vorns or so to see how he's doing._

Arcwelder glanced up and his spark nearly stopped pulsing as one of the most handsome mechs he had ever seen stumbled in. The mech looked at him and awkwardly cleared his throat. "Hi, I'm Waveshaft. I was told that my new psychiatrist would be here."

Arcwelder grinned foolishly as he stood up. "I'm him. Pleased to make your acquaintance Waveshaft."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert recharged soundly on the Ark, as Ratchet worriedly hooked up machines. He had to run a systems check… Ratchet scowled as the computer suddenly crashed. Now was not the time that it should be—

Ratchet paused, and looked at it, unhooking it from Red Alert. The computer picked back up smoothly, acting as if it had never been damaged. A cold feeling dropped into the grumpy CMO's spark.

Slowly he hooked the computer back up, praying to primus—Primus officially hated him. Ratchet groaned in frustration as the computer crashed once again. "Argh…"

Wheeljack appeared by the medbay door. "Ratchet, the entire crew wants to know how Red Alert is doing."

"His glitch-" Ratchet began, and stopped. Wheeljack looked at him, his fins glowing slightly. "His glitch has completely taken over his CPU." Ratchet finished gloomily. "Theirs a good chance that he might never wake up again."

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Yes, I know I am now officially evil. But, still, maybe Red Alert will wake up… Anyways, Arcwelder was such a good mech, and Waveshaft was such a good punching toy, I had to give them a reward for being in my fic. They got each other.

Someone told me Starwaves name is close to Shockwaves, which I assure you wasn't intended. But let's see y'all come up with names enough to do this. I'm horrible with coming up with names.


	13. Chapter 13

M'kay, this is going to explain just a little more about Red Alert's glitch, and sorry to Moonstarworld for the confusion about the name. (sweatdrop) I really goofed that one up…

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSs

Prime looked at Ratchet in disbelief. "You mean that they succeeded in pulling the glitch out, but now Red Alert cannot handle it-"

"Even as we speak, his logic processor is taking back over." Ratchet snarled back, frustrated. "However, the glitch has probably done irreparable damage to his vital inner core memories and information. So, if he awakens, he might not remember anything."

Optimus Prime looked helpless. "How, how can we help him?"

"We have to get him somewhere quiet, and small." Ratchet sighed. "And leave him alone, except to fill his tanks with energon. No loud noises, nothing that might disturb the process. If it does, he might be unable to wake up at all, and…he'll rust."

_Rust_, the feared word among all mechs. It was when a mech simply doesn't wake up, and his body rusts away around him. Ironhide spoke up slowly, "And Inferno, and the rest of the Ark?"

"I'll tell them." Prowl sighed, one hand rubbing his forehead. "And they'll listen."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sideswipe nudged Inferno as he chuckled. "Look, theirs Prowl right their. Soon we'll get the message that Red Alert is Ok, don't disturb him, and blah, blah, blah, right?"

Inferno shook his head, an uneasy feeling welling up deep in his spark. "I-I don't know Sides. Something tells me that this isn't over yet."

Sunstreaker snorted, and the Ark looked up towards Prowl as he stood in the front. "Autobts, we were too late." Prowl said softly. The autobts looked at him stunned. Prowl continued softly, "While Red Alert may be still alive, his glitch has taken over his CPU-"

A murmur spread across the Ark's crew. Red Alerts glitch regularly got the better of him. What was so different about this case? "And, this isn't a usual take over. I mean that Red Alert's glitch has gotten past every single firewall, right down the inner core of his CPU. If anything disturbs his process to bring the glitch back under control, he may rust."

Dead silence fell over the Ark. Inferno could swear that his spark had stopped pulsing at the thought of Red Alert rusting away. Prowl took a deep breath. "That is why from here on out the hallway outside of Red Alerts room will be banned from all those except for those who are to be feeding him, or are otherwise commanded. Also, no noise can be higher then 90 decibels within a four hallway radius."

Silence fell upon the Ark as they were confronted with a problem that they could not just simply run in and beat up. This was something intangible, and completely out of their league. And Red Alert was fighting it all on his own. It was a one-mech battle to be sure, it always had been. But they still felt a slight…loss. Like they had let him down.

Inferno looked at Sideswipe and attempted to smile. "I don't think me and Red are going to be recharging together for awhile now."

Sideswipe looked down and said softly, "Don't worry, when Red Alert wakes up, we'll lock you two in the same room and be good for a few orns so that way you two can catch up."

Infernos grin at that was much more natural. "Yeah, I'd like that."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

_It's so quiet._ His glitch brushed the thought from the logic capacitor aside as it attempted to drive through the last firewall that stood between it and Red Alerts inner core.

Ratchet (thankfully) had guessed wrong. The glitch hadn't gotten to the point that it could destroy all of the most important information. Some of the less important information was scrambled, but Red Alert was confident that as soon as he could get his glitch under control it would be easy enough to sort it out.

Slowly he pushed the glitch back, taking control of CPU bit by bit. His logic and glitch kept up a constant check on what was around him, and only found peace and silence. The logic part of his CPU whispered that meant something was wrong, and that brought the glitch rushing back.

Red Alert knew that silence on the Ark was bad. It was even worse when he was off the Ark, for that meant he had done something wrong, or somewhere else something was wrong. _Why was it so quiet?_ He wondered, CPU attempting to handle the glitch and think straight at the same time. _The Ark is never this quiet. The twins must be planning something. They had talked about firecrackers. No, don't tell me they placed them in a camera._

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Sunstreaker looked around, feeling as if someone had just shouted at him. He saw nothing but an empty hallway. Nearby was Red Alerts hallway, so he was keeping extra quiet to make sure he didn't cause Red Alert to permanently go off the deep end.

"Well, I didn't put any tricks anywhere, so Red Alert had better thank me when he gets up." He grumbled out loud, and moved off.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert heard him, and breathed a sigh of relief. So the Ark wasn't abandoned. If Sustreaker was still on, his twin would still be on, and that would mean that they would be with the rest of the Arks crew.

It drove his glitch back just a little. He listened carefully and could soon hear the sounds of other life. Whispers fell through the walls, and footsteps echoed. Each time they drove the glitch just a tiny bit back, telling it that the Ark was safe, and that so were its occupants.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSs

The Ark! Silent! May those two words never go together. It just wouldn't be the Ark then. And hah! Ratchet, you guessed wrong on what Red Alert needs. Well, too loud of a noise might have sent his glitch off the deep-end, but other then that…

Well, don't expect the next chapter too soon, and sorry that it took awhile to get this up, but indigestion is a doozy. XD


	14. Wake UP!

Ok, I have a question for those of you who live in the USA. What do you do when you see a fire truck? In both a city and on the road, like interstate wise. I plan on having them come down to earth, but I'm unsure of how people would react. Here, they just ignore the fire trucks, but I'm unsure of what happens in the states. Please tell. I can't start my next story until you all do.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Ratchet came once a recharge cycle to pump Red Alert full of energon and to flush the tanks. He also always held the thin hope that Red Alert might wake up soon. It was on the fifth such day while Ratchet was flushing out the tanks, when he snarled out loud, "Red Alert, Primus help you if you don't wake up soon. At least give us a sign that you're alright!"

It was purely a rhetorical statement. Ratchet did not believe that Red Alert would respond in any form or fashion. In fact, he was berating himself for speaking at all, when Red Alert twitched slightly, his voice capacitor attempting to work. Then, with a soft sigh, he slipped back into a deep recharge.

But it was much lighter this time, and Ratchet had the hope that Red Alert might actually wake up soon. "Red Alert, I do believe that you're going to wake up."

Red Alert twitched slightly at Ratchets voice, and his even breathing seemed to pause for a moment.

_Of course._ Ratchet thought. _He's still gaining control, he has simply gotten to the point where he might start being able to use his body once again. But he can still fall back at any time…_ Ratchet debated for a few moment about telling the rest of the Ark, but decided against it. If Red Alert had a relapse, then he would of given them false hope for nothing.

Ratchet walked out of the room, feeling much lighter indeed.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alerts CPU groaned. He still couldn't move, but when Ratchet had spoken, he had believed the grumpy medic, and had attempted to take over his body. With a brief surge that brushed the glitch away he had taken over his body to find that his glitch still held back the more important parts. So he had settled for a slight movement.

_What I wouldn't give for Inferno to be here._ It drifted through his CPU quietly, brushing the glitch away with its brilliance. Red Alert hesitantly reached out through the bond that he and Inferno shared. As usual, he felt a comforting wave of warmth and love that chased away his glitch like nothing else could.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Inferno froze as he felt Red Alerts presence nearby. His optics darted around the room as he thought for a moment that Red Alert would actually casually stroll in, and blame the twins for something. But, Red Alert didn't enter.

Inferno sighed in frustration as he sank down onto the chair. He had taken over Red Alerts job for the moment, and was staggered by just how much paperwork Red Alert did.

"Theirs a reason why I didn't want to become a security mech." Inferno grumbled. "Maybe being with Red Alert made me forget, but this brings it all back in a hurry."

Wheeljack's room exploded in that moment, sending his hand flying through the door to hit the wall. Inferno winced, and Wheeljack staggered out.

_You really don't learn your lesson, do you Wheeljack?_ Inferno paged dryly. _Even though we're nearly fresh from a battle, your still attempting to blow yourself and the Ark to pieces._

Wheeljack grinned at the cameras as he said, "True enough. I'll move to the blast room in a few more minutes."

"Huh," Inferno said dryly, as his gaze switched back to the cameras "I suppose you'll do that the same day Red Alert reinstalls a camera in your room."

It had been only a matter of time since the beginning of when the Ark was created that the Ark knew Red Alert would give up on having a camera in Wheeljack's room. It had taken a consecutive eighteen explosions before Red Alert finally agreed to give it up. He had then posted a camera somewhere else, right where it could see into Wheeljack's room.

Inferno chuckled as he remembered Wheeljack's creation day. Red Alert had stepped up to give his present, and it turned out to be a vid. "What's it a vid of?" Wheeljack asked curiously.

"The first half is made of the most spectacular explosions you've created, and the other half is when you and Ratchet work together and the wrenches begin to fly." Red Alert said dryly.

Wheeljack blushed, thanked him, taken Ratchet by the hand, and the two of them had gone off in private to watch the video. Of course, for the twins creation day, Red Alert had given them a video of their greatest tricks an those caught in them. He did the same for everyone, providing them with vids on the things they did on the Ark, whether they be drunk or just plain mischievous, he knew exactly what they did and didn't want to see.

0o00o0o0o0o0o0

Red Alert groaned as he beat back the glitch most of the way. He needed a good long rest, and the fact that Inferno was nowhere to be seen didn't help.

Silently he staggered to the door, and it hissed open softly, filling his auditory receptors with welcomed noise. Red Alert grumbled softly, as he walked through the calm, quiet corridors. _Where is everyone?_ He wondered, before reassuring himself, _they must be recharging._

Red Alert drifted through the hallways, never noticing that he was avoiding all sight with the cameras. He was so used to the schedule, he automatically timed his movements so that he didn't get seen. The control room loomed ahead of him, and Red Alert grinned like a sparkling with its favorite toy.

The door hissed open to reveal a frowning Inferno. Inferno's back was to him, but Red Alert could feel that scowl. And he didn't care. He was just too tired to care. He wanted rest, and he wanted it now. Inferno was always a very willing pillow.

Red Alert made a beeline for the unsuspecting fire truck. Inferno nearly jumped right out of his circuits as someone warm snuggled up to him, and promptly fell into a deep recharge.

He looked down; surprise and disbelief crossed his features. "Red?"

A sleepy, protesting mumble, and Red Alert attempted to bury himself into Inferno's side.

Inferno grinned, and one arm wrapped around the security director. Inferno breathed softly, "Glad to see you're awake."

0o0o0o0o0o0

When Ratchet had been called to the security room, he had not expected Red Alert to be recharging. Certainly he had half expected to see Red Alert there and demanding that whatever bots were in the room were to get out, but other then that, nothing.

So, as he told Inferno, "let him recharge. Don't tell the others yet. He might still slip." Ratchet was beginning to doubt his own words. For Red Alert looked as if he would happily recharge for the next few vorns inside of Inferno's embrace.

Inferno looked down at Red Alert and silently apologized and slowly slid out of the security directors embrace. He really had to go flush his tanks.

0o0o0o0o0o

Red Alert woke up, missing his pillow. Sleepily he glanced around, and scowled darkly. The twins were looking cross-eyed at a camera. Red Alert muttered to himself as he typed in a message: _Get one step closer to that camera and your afts are mine._

Both twins jumped as it dinged on the pagers, and looked back at the camera. Sunstreaker seemed about ready to step foreword again, when another message appeared on the screen. _Don't make me come down there and throw you in the brig._

The twins grinned at each other, and took a step foreword. The control room hissed open, and to their surprise, _Red Alert_ and _not_ Ironhide stepped out. "Oh my, we're screwed, aren't we Sunny?"

Sunstreaker changed and drove off, leaving his twin behind. _Thank you for rescuing me Sideswipe._ He paged back smugly- only to run into Prowl.

_I really am having a bad day, aren't I?_ Sunstreaker thought as he backed up. Prowl scowled and took a deep breath. "And where is your twin?"

"Being yelled at by Red Alert."

Prowls' scowl deepened. "Then go back and let him yell at both of you. Maybe if he pounds both of you into a rust buckets, his glitch will calm down enough that he can get the paperwork done."

_Trust Prowl to be worried about the paper work._ Sunstreaker thought, viewing the second in command angrily. Red Alert appeared around the corner, driving Sideswipe before him. "Oh, good, Prowl. Take these two and lock them up for me, will you? I'm going back to the security room."

As the twins raced off, they spread the word. Red Alert was back, and it was time to try and destroy the Ark as usual.

SsSsSsSsSsSs

Oh, I think Red Alert should of stayed in his glitchy state for awhile longer, just to spare the Ark, but it was so silent without him, it just doesn't work. Besides, if Red Alert permanently glitched, how am I gonna write about him?

Please, to those of you who live in the states, please tell me about those Fire trucks! And maybe someone can tell me how long it takes to drive across country?


End file.
